Coventry City vs Aston Villa; Carabao Cup Round 3
Coventry City vs Aston Villa. Carabao Cup Round 3.
The Coventry Building Society Arena.
Coventry City 1
- V Torp (27th minute)
Aston Villa 3
- T Abraham (7th minute, 59th minute)
- R Barkley (40th minute)
Watch match highlights
Coventry 1-3 Aston Villa: Tammy Abraham scores twice as Unai Emery's side cruise into Carabao Cup fourth round
Match report and highlights as Aston Villa beat Coventry City 3-1 to book their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup; Tammy Abraham scored twice and Ross Barkley also netted; Victor Torp scored the pick of the goals with his free-kick; Villa will face Bournemouth in the next round
Wednesday 16 September 2026 23:11, UK
Tammy Abraham scored twice as Aston Villa won 3-1 at Coventry City to book their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Abraham raced through on goal to give Unai Emery's side an early lead, just their second domestic goal of the season, but it was quickly cancelled out by Victor Torp's stunning free-kick into the top right corner.
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The lead was restored just before the break through Ross Barkley's glancing header from Ibrahim Mbaye's corner, with the 18-year-old winger impressing throughout on his first start for the club since his £47m move from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Abraham, who had offers to leave before Deadline Day but stayed to fight for his place, helped himself to a second with a simple finish from close range as Villa brushed aside their goalscoring woes to tee up a meeting with Bournemouth in the next round.
The fixture marked the first meeting between the two sides since the 3-2 win for Villa in 2001, which relegated the Sky Blues from the Premier League, and now compounds a tough start to the season for Frank Lampard's side.
They have just one win across their opening five games and will now prepare to face Nottingham Forest, live on Saturday Night Football, in search of their first Premier League goal after returning to the top flight.
WATCH: All the goals - including Torp's superb free-kick
The key moments from the CBS Arena
7: GOAL! Abraham races onto Hemmings' pass and slots home the opener for Villa.
14: BLOCK! Ruggeri shot is blocked after a well-worked corner almost led to a quick-fire second.
28: GOAL! Torp curls stunning free-kick into top right corner to draw Coventry level.
31: CHANCE! Hamer fires his effort just wide of the target as Coventry push to take the lead.
40: GOAL! Barkley glances his header in to restore Villa lead after meeting Mbaye's corner.
60: GOAL! Abraham sweeps his second goal of the evening in to extend Villa's lead on the night.
Emery: We deserved to win
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to Sky Sports:
"Very good how the players respond on the field. The plan, they followed it and we got the commitment we needed to recover our way.
"This competition, our objective is a trophy, and it is a way to Europe.
"We wanted to play comfortably and get confidence. More or less, we did it. The experienced players like Tyrone [Mings] and John [McGinn] responded well.
"Overall, we deserved to win."
'We have to be better,' says Lampard
Coventry City boss Frank Lampard speaking to Sky Sports:
"They started well, better than us, and they get a goal which is poor.
"Our reaction was great. Getting the equaliser and the stadium felt great, but the two goals - we have to be better.
"The critical game from then was set pieces. You cannot win games at this level against Premier League opposition when you give away two easy ones like that.
"It is frustrating; at 1-1 we were pushing but we lacked conviction. It is not an excuse; it is the reality of the game and we need to be better on.
"We have had a tough start and we need to improve. We have to approach in the right way."
